


Going Nowhere Fast

by ptrckstmup



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pete and Patrick (Fall Out Boy)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3517568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ptrckstmup/pseuds/ptrckstmup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick is a weird awkward nerdy teenage boy who hates confrontation and Pete thinks he's most adorable boy ever. <br/>(finished)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. notes

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know where this story is going to be honest but whatever

They all sat in their usual spot during lunch. Outside in the courtyard. Andy and Joe would usually be caught up in a heavy conversation about some weird comic book series no one else had ever heard of before, and Brendon was usually playing his guitar or pestering Ryan about something he thought was interesting. That usually left Patrick to sit quietly by himself, eating his tater tots in silence and listening to the conversations around him. Today, everyone happened to be especially boring so he excused himself and started to head to his next class.  
He took the outside route because he figured he had more time and it was a pretty nice day out. He made it all the way to the other side of the school until he saw some emo kid smoking, leaning up against a wall. He rolled his eyes and kept walking.  
“Hey… Stump, right?” the emo kid shouted his way.  
Patrick hesitantly came to a stop and turned his direction. “Yeah… What?”  
“Come here.”  
Patrick wanted nothing more than to not go over there because that kid scared the fuck out of him. Besides, he was probably just gonna beat him up or steal money or something. Against his better judgment, he walked towards him.  
“You’re in math next period, right?”  
“…Yeah.”  
“With Mrs. Belmont?”  
“Yup…”  
“Good,” he said as he dug through his backpack, pulling out a crumpled up piece of blank paper and a pencil, scribbling something down on it. “Can you give this note to my friend, Pete?"  
Patrick contemplated saying no. He was always too nervous to approach new people, and besides, he felt like this was none of his business in the first place. Why couldn't this kid just give Pete the note in person? Was it really that important?  
But being the pushover he was, he grabbed the note and said, “Sure.”  
“Thanks. He’s the one with the black hair, he looks like he hasn't slept in years, you know who I’m talking about?”  
"Yeah. I'll make sure he gets it."

 

Patrick walked into his math class, looking around nervously for Pete. He didn't like being caught up in all of this emo note distributing, but he didn't plan on making it more than a one time thing. He spotted him at the back of the room, scribbling furiously in his notebook. Patrick slowly approached him and pulled the wadded up note out of his pocket.  
“You’re Pete?”  
He looked up. He was wearing a lot of eyeliner, Patrick noted.  
“Yeah.”  
“This kid wanted me to give this note to you.”  
“Who was it?”  
Patrick kicked himself for not asking for a name. “Uh… I’m not sure. He just pulled me aside and told me to give it to you.”  
“It’s okay,” he said chuckling, “It’s probably from Gerard.”  
The bell rang. Patrick found his seat and opened his notebook, ready to not ever give people notes again.

Class ended and Patrick started to pack up. He noticed Pete trying to catch up to him as he made his way down the halls.  
“Hey, what’s your name?”  
“Patrick.”  
“Cool. Uh, you didn’t read that note Gerard gave you before you gave it to me did you?”  
“No. Why?”  
“N-no reason,” he nervously laughing and started walking in the other direction. “Thanks, bye Patrick!”  
Patrick shook his head and kept walking. He just wanted to stay out of this.


	2. curious

The next day was a blur. Patrick didn’t even bother paying attention in his classes since he figured he wasn’t going to understand what any of his teachers were talking about anyways. Lunch time came around again. Patrick was usually the first one to sit down at the table, but today, Brendon was there picking at his food, looking really sad. Patrick made his way over to him and sat down cautiously.  
“Dude, what’s wrong?”  
Brendon looked up, just noticing Patrick. “Oh… Nothing, man. Ryan didn’t show up today and I’m super bored. I usually go wait outside his class and we walk down to lunch together but he wasn’t here, so…”  
“That sucks.”  
“Yeah…”  
They were both quiet for a few minutes until Patrick broke the silence.  
“Do you happen to know someone named Pete?”  
“I know a few… Which one are you talking about? Pete Robbins? Martins? Wentz?”  
Patrick shrugged, “I’m not sure, he has black hair… Kinda intimidating…”  
“Oh, Pete Wentz! Yeah he’s friends with Ryan, we hang out sometimes with him and his band. They’re pretty good by the way.”  
“Cool,” Patrick said, trying not to sound too interested.  
“Why do you ask?” Brendon said with a mouthful of chips.  
“No reason. We talked kinda. Yesterday.”  
“About what?”  
“Nothing important. Doesn’t matter, never mind,” he muttered as he went back to eating.  
Eventually the rest of his friends made their way to the table. Andy and Joe were busy arguing about whether Spiderman or Iron Man would win in a fight, with Brendon jumping in to make a point every few minutes. Patrick zoned out of that conversation mostly because he was too tired to care.  
Since Brendon was lonely, he asked if he could walk with Patrick to his next class. After yesterday’s incident, Patrick decided to take the inside route, not wanting to run into that Gerard kid again. He let out a sigh of relief when he made it to the math hall, until he turned a corner and saw Gerard standing there, leaning against a row of lockers.  
Patrick tried to ignore him and keep a busy conversation with Brendon, talking about new songs they had both learned to play on their guitars.  
“Patrick! Come here!”  
He clenched his fists and hesitantly walked towards him. Brendon followed, whispering, “Who the fuck is this guy?”  
“What?” Patrick said halfheartedly to Gerard.  
“Got a note for you to give to Pete.”  
He pulled out another crumbled up paper, this time already prewritten, and handed it to Patrick.  
He wanted nothing more than to tell him no thank you and walk away, but he grabbed the note.  
“Don’t read it, okay?” Gerard winked.  
“I won’t…”  
“Thanks man,” he said as he walked away.  
Brendon looked very confused, “Dude, what the fuck was that? What does the note say?” he tried to snatch it out of Patrick’s hands.  
Patrick guarded the note and said, “I don’t fucking know. He asked me to do this shit yesterday too.”  
“Is that why you asked me about Pete?”  
“Yeah, maybe…”  
“Hmm… I don’t know why you don’t just read it already, jesus. If I was you I would’ve read it the second it was handed to me. The first time. How are you not even a little curious?”  
“I am… It’s just… None of my business. I don’t wanna be involved.”  
“Liar.”

The bell rang for the end of lunch. Patrick said goodbye to Brendon and shuffled into the classroom. He sighed and leaned against his desk, waiting for Pete. A few seconds later he trudged in, noticing the piece of paper in Patrick’s hands. He handed it to him without saying a word and went to sit down, watching Pete open the note, noticing him blush a little.  
Patrick’s heart dropped. Was he delivering love notes from Gerard? He tried to shake the thought by opening his spiral and reading the notes from last class. He definitely didn’t want to be involved in this now.  
Class was pretty boring. They were still in the process of learning new material, so everyone was taking notes.  
“Okay, once everyone has this slide off the power point copied down, we’re gonna get into groups and review what we just learned.”  
Patrick gave an exasperated sigh.  
Mrs. Belmont picked up a piece of paper off of her desk and said, “Okay when I call these groups I want you to get up and go sit by your new partner. Sarah and Will. Bella and Samantha. Emily and Declan. Pete and Patrick…”  
He felt his heart drop. He just wanted to stay away from this kid. He turned around and saw Pete looking down at his desk, doodling. Patrick slowly got up and moved to the now empty seat next to him.  
They sat in silence as the rest of the class found their partners, making small talk. The teacher quieted the class and told them what they were supposed to be doing. Patrick tried to pay attention while Pete just scribbled away.  
“Okay… so we’re supposed to read our spirals to each other and explain what the notes we took mean. That sounds super dumb so if you don’t wanna do it, it’s fine with me,” Patrick said passively.  
Pete looked up and replied, “Oh, no it’s okay. Let’s do it,” he looked down at his spiral. “So in order to graph a quadratic function you have to… Oh shit. I didn’t copy that slide down. Damn, I’m sorry.”  
Patrick smiled, “It’s fine, you can copy it from me,” he said as he flipped to that page.  
Pete thanked him as he quickly jotted down the notes.  
The rest of class was pretty tolerable to Patrick. The teacher continued to give notes and told everyone to stay in their new seats. And Patrick was pretty okay with that.  
Later on, Pete excused himself to go to the bathroom, leaving Patrick by himself. He couldn’t help but notice two crumbled pieces of paper from inside of his notebook. At first he resisted, and just tried to focus on copying the notes into his spiral. He knew he shouldn’t look, but at this point his curiosity was killing him. Eventually Patrick cautiously pulled the two sheets out of his spiral.  
The first one said, “This was the guy I was talking about earlier. Cute right? –Gerard”  
The second one said, “Do you know if he’s gay or not? Because he’s super cute. Pudgy, but cute. I think he’s perfect for you. If you don’t hop on that, I will. –Gerard”  
Patrick’s jaw dropped and he could feel his cheeks turning red. Before he could put the letters back, Pete walked in. Patrick grudgingly handed him the papers when he made it back to the table, trying not to look anywhere except his spiral. Pete did the same.  
At the end of class, Patrick packed up as fast as he could, practically running out the door. He heard Pete calling his name, but he didn’t bother looking back.


	3. not gay

He couldn’t stop thinking about the notes.  
At dinner. His mom tried making conversation with him, but he lightly shrugged her off.  
Why is Gerard so obsessed with him and Pete being a thing? And was he really that “pudgy”? Fuck off, Gerard.  
Doing his homework. He was finishing up his English reading assignment, but his mind kept wandering.  
Did Pete like him? Have they discussed this before? Did they talk about him?  
And at night, while he was attempting to fall asleep.  
Did Pete like him? Did Pete like him?? Oh god, how would he confront him? Patrick wasn't even gay! And even if he was, Pete’s not even his type. What was he supposed to do in math now? At least they only changed seats for that day. He would die if he had to sit by him every class. Yesterday Pete was calling after him. What was he gonna say? Was he gonna explain himself or apologize or what?  
Patrick was actually kinda curious about what he had to say. He couldn’t decide if he was mad at Pete and Gerard or just Gerard or if he was even mad at all. His emotions were all jumbled up because of those damn notes. And Patrick hated the fact that he was getting so riled up about it. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. This kind of thing happened to people all the time, at least in TV shows. Was his life really that uninteresting?  
He made an executive decision to pretend none of this ever happened. He would just walk into his math class with a clean slate, ignore Pete, focus on his work, and leave. That’s it. It sounded ideal, but he also kinda doubted how well he’d be able to stick to the plan. Plus Gerard would probably fuck it up anyways.  
He took a deep sigh and rolled over in his bed, finally drifting off to sleep.

The next day, Patrick was on high alert. He looked for Gerard around every corner, paranoid he would pop out of nowhere and surprise him with another note. He knew he was supposed to be forgetting about all of this, but he couldn’t help it. After lunch, he grabbed a reluctant Brendon and walked to math with him.  
“Dude, I was supposed to walk with Ryan to his economics class. He’s gonna be pissed at me.”  
“I know, I’m sorry. I just… wanna make sure Gerard doesn’t pull any more shit.”  
“You’re fucking dumb, man. You’re too paranoid, it sounds like he’s trying to kill you or something. Calm down.”  
“I am calm. And fuck you.”  
Brendon laughed, “Fuck you too, buddy.”  
Patrick cautiously walked down the math hallway, making sure it was clear of Gerard. It was.  
“Can I go now? Your boyfriend isn’t here,” Brendon whined.  
Patrick playfully shoved him, “Yeah, go punk.”  
Brendon flipped him off and briskly walked away.  
Patrick felt relieved. He walked into Mrs. Belmont’s class with a smile on his face but it quickly faded when he saw Gerard at the back of the classroom with a smirk on his face. He was holding a red envelope. Patrick’s stomach churned as he ignored him and went to sit in his seat up front.  
A few seconds went by until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He glanced at the fingerless glove wearing hand. Again, he ignored him. He heard Gerard clear his throat. Patrick continued to focus his gaze on his notebook, looking nowhere else. He must’ve looked really dumb, but he didn’t care.  
Gerard took a seat in the chair next to him and gave an exaggerated sigh.  
“Paaatrick… Patrick. I have something for you… Patrick.”  
He ran the edge of the envelope against his cheek. Patrick was fuming. He never knew he could feel this angry. He continued to ignore him, cursing the bell for not ringing soon enough.  
Finally he cracked. He ripped the envelope of out Gerard’s gross hands and turned towards him, screaming, “GO AWAY! I DON’T CARE IF YOU THINK ME AND PETE WOULD BE A CUTE COUPLE! I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ME. I DON’T WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS. I DON’T LIKE PETE! I’M NOT GAY!”  
Gerard chuckled, “I totally get you. I’m sorry. I’ll lay off, I just wanted to give you this. Bye, man.”  
He got up and walked out of the classroom. Patrick looked around and noticed people staring at him, realizing they just heard everything. His cheeks flushed. "It’s not that bad", he thought. "At least Gerard is off my back."  
His heart sank as he realized that Pete also heard everything.  
The bell rang.  
The teacher made them move back to the seats from last class, much to Patrick’s dismay. They didn’t speak a word to each other, even when Mrs. Belmont forced the partners to interact.  
When the bell rang, Pete was the one to pack up quickly. Patrick felt a lump in his throat as he watched him run out the door. He didn’t know why he felt guilty, but he did. It’s not like he even did anything wrong.  
Suddenly he remembered the envelope. He pulled it out of his backpack where it was shoved earlier and slowly opened it, now standing in an almost empty classroom.  
He took the paper out, noticing it was a picture of some screenshots of a text conversation. The first text was from Pete.  
You were right about Patrick… he’s so fucking cute  
lol gay af  
I can’t stop thinking about him  
then make a move!!!  
I can’t! He’s not gay! And I’m scared!  
ur a pussy  
I know.  
look, i’ve already done my part. i gave him letters to give to u  
I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO DO THAT!!! NOW HE PROB THINKS IT’S JUST A HUGE JOKE!  
maybe, maybe not  
You fucked it up for me, man. Thanks. Fuck you.

Patrick couldn’t move. There was too much information processing in his brain and he just wanted to shut it down. He jammed the paper into his backpack and frantically walked to his next class.


	4. wow

Patrick was such an asshole. He honestly didn’t know how to handle this. He knew he should’ve ran after Pete and apologized, or been less of a dick in general, but he also felt like none of this was his fault. He was technically forced into this drama. It’s not his fault Pete liked him. It’s not his fault Gerard couldn’t mind his own business. Although this was the first time conflict had been started because of him. Especially weird emo gay drama. Patrick really didn’t know how to feel about a guy liking him. Or anyone in general. It was strange. However, ever since the day this all started, he couldn’t stop thinking about Pete. He had never thought of a guy like that before. But any time he contemplated it, he immediately blocked it from his thoughts.  
He just wanted to pretend none of this ever happened. He succeeded for a few minutes when he got home and distracted himself with homework. He didn’t have much that day so he finished within 20 minutes. He went to put his spiral back into his backpack when he saw a crumbled up piece of paper in his bag. He reached in warily and pulled it out. It had a phone number on it written in purple ink.  
Patrick felt his heart beat faster as he realized this was probably Pete’s number. He had no idea how it got there, but he just knew it was his. Gerard probably slipped it in his bag as he was leaving… Dammit.  
What the hell was he supposed to do? Text him? Maybe he should. He should apologize for being such a dick. Maybe Pete would be weirded out at the fact Patrick had his number.  
He reluctantly decided to text him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and slowly entered the number,  
“Hey, this is Patrick. I just wanted to say sorry about everything today…”  
And hit send. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. This was stupid.  
A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.  
“Hey Patrick. It’s ok”  
He smiled.  
“I just feel really bad about it. Also I just found your number in my backpack, I guess Gerard put it there”  
“Probably… It wouldn’t surprise me lol. Gerard is a pussy, sry for him harassing u all the time.”  
“No, it’s fine. I just never thought I was worth making such a big fuss over.”  
“Haha I know what you mean”  
Another message from Pete came a few seconds later.  
“You know I… kind of like you right?”  
Patrick felt butterflies in his stomach and caught himself smiling. He immediately wiped it off his face.  
“yeah”  
“ok well I was just wondering how you felt about that.”  
Patrick honestly didn’t know how to answer. His cheeks were turning red.  
“I don’t like guys.”  
“Oh. Sorry to bother you about it then. Bye.”  
Patrick’s heart was beating fast. He knew what he wanted to say to Pete, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He was probably just confused, that’s all. He would wake up in the morning and everything would be fine. But something in his gut told him to just do it. Just tell him how he felt and deal with the repercussions later. Patrick wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling, but he knew it was something important. He slowly typed,  
“I don’t know what’s going on with me right now. But I think I might like you too.”  
He contemplated just deleting it, but something inside him made him push send. WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING? He didn’t even know if what he felt for Pete was what he thought it was. This was all just very new and weird and stupid.  
His phone buzzed.  
“wow”  
‘That’s all he has to say? Wow?’ Patrick thought. He just opened up to him and told him something pretty goddamn important, and that’s all he had to say? Patrick felt instantly frustrated and decided to passive aggressively not text him back.  
His feelings were so jumbled up right now. He laid face down on his bed and let out a frustrated groan. “This sucks,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sry this took forever to post lol but here it is. more to come. eventually


	5. actually good

Patrick felt light headed the entire night. His mother called him for dinner, but he told her he wasn’t all that hungry. She insisted he eat something, so he took a granola bar into his room and laid under his covers.  
Stupid Pete. Fuck him.  
Patrick woke up late the next morning. He had 10 minutes until school started, so he yanked a shirt and jeans from his closet and ran into the bathroom. Realizing he had grabbed a sweater vest and a button down shirt, he cringed. He only wore stuff like that to funerals and weddings. Not that he went to many of those anyways. He surveyed the outfit and begrudgingly put it on. He didn’t have time to choose something else. He brushed through his messy hair, trying to make it look as decent as possible, but it still looked like he had just woken up.  
“Fuck me,” Patrick muttered under his breath as he quickly ran to his closet and laced up his converse.  
He was late by 5 minutes. He walked in the classroom, trying to ignore everyone’s blank stares. His teacher asked if he had an excuse for being tardy, Patrick said no shamefully and sat in his usual seat next to Joe.  
“A fucking sweater vest, man?” Joe whispered.  
Patrick’s cheeks flushed.  
“What the hell? Why?”  
Patrick shrugged, trying his best to keep his attention forward.  
“You look like a 10 year old going to Catholic school, Stump.”  
Patrick laughed. He honestly looked sort of dumb.  
“Oh well,” he sighed.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Soon lunchtime rolled around and Patrick entered the courtyard, sitting in his regular spot. Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Pete. He tried to compose himself as he took a seat across from him.  
“Hey,” he said.  
“Hi,” Patrick muttered.  
“I just figured it would be a good time to talk. Cuz of last night.”  
“Yeah…” Patrick bit his nail and squirmed in his seat.  
“I… just wanted to tell you that whatever you’re feeling right now, if you’re scared or excited or just really freaking out, it’s okay. I am too. We don’t have to do anything if you don’t wanna. I understand.”  
Patrick’s eyes widened.  
“I know you’re really uncomfortable and you have all these new feelings and you’re confused and all. I just think you’re a really cool guy. You know?” Pete said, smirking as he got up from the table and started to walk away.  
“I think you’re cool too.” Patrick fumbled on his words.  
“And by the way, I like your sweater vest.” Pete winked and kept walking until he was out of sight. Patrick watched as his friends walked to the table a few seconds later.  
“Hey, how’s your day going, Patrick?” Brendon asked conversationally.  
He mulled the question over for a bit. “I’m actually good.”  
“Oh really? What happened?” he said languidly.  
“I met someone. And I am freaking out.”

**Author's Note:**

> the end.


End file.
